The water spray boiler system that cools space shuttle Discovery’s hydraulics is being checked today as the shuttle undergoes standard processing for launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The work on the boiler system will last into next week. Also, technicians removed hydrogen tank No. 5 from Discovery’s power reactant supply and distribution, or PSRD, system. The tanks store hydrogen and oxygen for the power-producing fuel cells on the shuttle. Oxygen tank No. 5 will be taken out Monday.
While the work continues on the shuttle in preparation for the STS-133 mission, the astronauts who will fly Discovery into space are reviewing spacewalk repair procedures for the heat shield. They are working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston where astronauts perform most of their training regimen for a flight.